Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1938, The American Republics, Volume V

611.3531/580

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of the American Republics (Duggan)

Washington , January 8, 1938.

The Argentine Ambassador² informed me by telephone this morning that there was some misunderstanding in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with regard to the first paragraph of the draft telegram prepared at the conference on January 4 between Ambassador Espil and Mr. Sayre.³ The Foreign Office apparently thought that what the Department desired was the abolition of the free rate. Señor Irigoyen⁴ telephoned the Ambassador from Buenos Aires on Friday, January 7, and requested the Ambassador to send at once a cable explaining that the Department’s interest lay in the surcharge. The Ambassador said he sent off a telegram yesterday noon, which he thought would clarify the situation. He told me that he would endeavor to talk with Irigoyen on the telephone on Monday morning, January 10.

2. Felipe A. Espil.
3. Francis B. Sayre, Assistant Secretary of State; for memorandum of the conversation on January 4, 1938, see Foreign Relations, 1937, vol. v, p. 232.
4. Alonso Irigoyen, Financial Attaché of the Argentine Embassy in Washington.